B&G remains committed to grain-based foods brands

B&G Foods said it will be paying special attention to its grain-based food brands, including Cream of Wheat, Ortega, and Pirate's Booty.

BOSTON — B&G Foods Inc.’s acquisition of Green Giant may be getting all the headlines, but the top executive at B&G Foods, a Parsippany, N.J.-based company, is adamant that it won’t stop paying attention to what it already owns.

“We have a number of brands that have been very important to us,” Robert Cantwell, president and chief executive officer, said during a Sept. 8 presentation at the Barclays Global Consumer Staples Conference in Boston.

Those brands include several with grain-based foods ties, including Cream of Wheat, Ortega and Pirate’s Booty.

B&G Foods hopes to reach millennials through the launch of instant Cream of Wheat cups.

Robert Cantwell, president and c.e.o. of B&G Foods

“This is a launch to try to get (Cream of Wheat) more relevant to the younger consumer, getting the younger consumer to take this to work, eat it on the go,” Mr. Cantwell said. “It’s a better-for-you product.”

He said B&G has experienced “tremendous reception at retailers” with the instant Cream of Wheat cups since their roll-out in August.

Pirate’s Booty is another product B&G Foods has high hopes for. Mr. Cantwell said the company sees a “huge upside, much bigger upside than our typical brand.”

“This is a very strong snack brand,” he said. “This is a brand that’s typically sold to young parents who have kids 12-ish and under, but young parents eat this as much as their kids. It’s also eaten by females 19 to 40. It’s a brand that’s perceived as better-for-you, which it is. It’s still a salty snack. It’s what parents are happy giving their kids. A lot of upside here.”

Meanwhile, Ortega, a brand B&G bought from Nestle in 2003, has gotten new distribution and is moving into new parts of the United States. Mr. Cantwell said Ortega Street Taco Kits that were launched a few months ago have done very well in the market.

“There’s an innovation pipeline behind that to continue to roll out new products and make new news and new noise on the shelf for Ortega,” he said.